Why Meghan McCain Is Right
Dumping barge loads of compact florescent bulbs into the ocean is viewed by some “real conservatives” as a better statement than working to improve and clean up the technology. Since when did it become a badge of honor to leave every light in your house burning to no purpose — wasting not only electricity but the owner’s money — rather than taking part in an hour of energy conservation? Ideas like these are not coming from a handful of deranged, partisan nutcases, but from some of the most high-profile, respected voices in the conservative blogosphere. Is it any wonder, then, that stereotypes such as these take hold and wind up being rejected by a younger, more progressive generation of conservatives who are looking to carve out their own place in the Republican Party? Is Meghan McCain really that much of an abomination for pointing out the log in her own party’s eye before plucking the splinter from that of the Democrats?
Returning to our first quote and reaching the more general tone of Ms. McCain’s speech, she somewhat cheerfully called out the party faithful on the label which has come to signify the GOP’s shrinking tent: “Clearly a ‘Republican in Name Only,’ also affectionately known as a RINO.” It’s a fun phrase to toss around, isn’t it? And if you consider yourself to be the heart and soul of what remains of the conservative movement, you probably use it liberally. (Pun intended.)
Speaking as one who lived with that label for years in New York, I can tell you that it’s not really all that amusing. It carries with it the unspoken imprint of one who is neither needed nor wanted. It means that you will grudgingly accept our votes and, perhaps, the odd member of our tribe to bolster your numbers in the legislature, but our opinions will not be found in the platform. We will at best be treated like the mentally deficient uncle who you can’t officially disown but you fervently hope won’t show up in the photo from the family reunion. I can’t help but wonder if the 2008 GOP presidential candidate is feeling a bit of that sensation today.
The Hot Air comments referenced earlier in this column also contained some of the most damning evidence of this phenomenon, and they dealt specifically with John McCain rather than his highly opinionated daughter. He was belittled not only for losing the election, but for being a soft conservative. More than one reader declared that he wasn’t even “a real Republican.” Yes, Senator McCain lost the election, but it was fairly close given the conditions. Too many have forgotten not only the surging popularity of his opponent, but the perfect storm of anti-Republican sentiment brewing in a country facing difficult times under a president with an “R” after his name. Is there anyone left among even the most stalwart GOP base who thinks that a candidate like Sam Brownback could have pulled even 40% last November?
If so, I would submit that you have truly lost sight of the national mood and are allowing purist ideology to stand in the way of progress in the political arena. Rail all you like against Meghan McCain’s youth, her popularity with the liberal media, or her failure to conform to old-world, conservative doctrine. But she’s preaching to a new, younger choir in the evolving landscape of conservatism. You’d be well advised to listen.
No offense but “Megan McCain” bores the hell out of me right OR wrong.
Plus, I’m hotter. ;p
The porker is a self-important ditz with nothing to say. It’s not as if she thought the whole matter through intellectually, and then as a result failed “to conform to old-world, conservative doctrine.”
She makes Anna Marie Cox look substantive.
With all due respect, I beg to differ.
Ms McCain is an overindulged, spoiled child who has never worked a day in her life, and will most likely never have to. From the Olympian altitude of her 24 years, and her reality-based Art History degree, she deigns to enlighten many people who have been working and thinking longer than she has been alive. No.
This is a woman whose sole claim to notice (so far) is her last name. That claim is getting her plenty of tongue-bathing from the major media, a pulpit for her use, and far more attention than she deserves. I can name half a dozen conservative female bloggers in her age cohort whose analytic and writing skills far outstrip Ms McCain’s. By the weight of her resume, she’s almost qualified to be president.
I feel some small sympathy for the degree of her culture shock, but she is playing a stereotype, whether or not she realizes it. She approaches the conservative world in the same way that the missionary’s daughter approaches those naked savages. There never were Cliff’s notes for the White Man’s Burden, and I don’t think we’re going to start now. The arrogance contained in that viewpoint is literally blinding.
I can think of several things that Ms McCain might do before she descends to walk among the unwashed.
She might spend a little time actually listening to Rush, before regurgitating the thoughtbites of others. She could spend a little time actually meeting and talking to some of Rush’s audience. She could cross the Rubicon into the unknown territory of the working-class nation that doesn’t inhabit Columbia, the beltway, or the dinner-party circuit.
She could also reflect a little on the existence of principles and values, and on the fact that people have been willing to die for them throughout human history. The breezy ignorance with which she disposes of the principles of others is the moral equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. She might even come to the realization that there are some highly principled people who disagree sharply with her opinions. People who have evolved their convictions over a much greater life-experience than her own.
But they might be creepy.
Hmmm, a clueless, naive porker strings together a collection of inane rantings and somehow that deserves a mention?!?!
If we are only offered “new, progressive Republicans” why not stick with the “old, progressive Democrats”? Megan McCain’s loyalty to her father is understandable. Her father’s loyalty to the Republican Party, conservatism and American Sovereignty is lacking.
Yes kids still do say the darnedest things- but lets not run the Party on cute.
My problem with Ms. McCain is that I have yet to hear her stand FOR a conservative principle. She dislikes social conservatives & thinks they need to get with the program. She calls them creepy. She parrots the left-wing Rush=mean tripe. Caring for the environment is not a bad thing but greenies have done such a good job of making their radical agenda synonymous with environmentalism that conservatives often see new ideas as just another way to tell us what to do with our lives. Therefore, we aren’t going to be happy about yet another “green” initiative.
And she has NO credibility outside of her father. She has no conservative credibility at all because she doesn’t represent the party. THAT is why no one takes her seriously or thinks we should listen to her.
What is disturbing is that the opinions of a mush brained spoiled brat adolescent are being amplified by alleged grown-ups that should know better.
How un-serious a nation we have become.
Like it or not, the stupid chick has a point that I for one agree with on at least a primitive level.
I completely get what Mr. Shaw is getting at.
I don’t think that the degree of contempt with which some conservatives view dissenting voices in the arts community in particular is very helpful.
Don’t get me wrong, I am sickened by the likes of Sean Penn, Janean Garofalo (i don’t even consider her human at this point, maybe a bad example), Tim Robbins-Sarandon, et al. But I think the approach of looking down one’s nose at the problem simply isn’t working.
We need to educate, educate, educate, so that our more rational viewpoint can be viable in the minds of the young, creative American.
It’s a problem that most conservatives are content to rant about like it’s a non-issue so violently that apparently it IS in fact a problem.
I hope this comment makes some sense.
“…wish to thin the herd by driving all the RINOs from their midst, they are dooming the Republicans to a future as a regional party with little hope for electoral success on a national level.”
Uh..ya. Exactly. Fine by me. I’d much rather be the party of vertebrates…and not invertebrates, like they are now.
“What I am talking about tonight is what it means to be a new, progressive Republican.” She appears not to understand the meanings of the words she uses yet deigns argue against those who do. It’s understandable why so many Republicans and conservatives think she’s a joke.
Why create a GOP version of Paris Hilton? Seriously, who besides Jazz can think this is a good idea?
She has no beliefs other than whats “cool” (ie: whats popular), just like her Dad.
These are the people we should be purging from the party, not encouraging.
“This young lady bravely speaks to a younger generation of conservatives.”
No, actually she is ignorant, arrogant and self absorbed… so much so that she has no idea of what she doesn’t know.
She is a symbol of what is wrong with Americas youth.
All RINOs need to read the Federalist Papers, biographies of the founding fathers (Alf Mapp’s two volumes of Jefferson first), and:
Ludwig von Mises’ “Bureaucracy” and “Human Action”
Friedrich Hayek’s “Road to Surfdom”
but perhaps novels such as Ayn Rand’s is all Megan’s capable of, so I suggest, with all her artie preparation, “Fountainhead”.
That’ll shut her up, since she obviously is one of those that reads slowly with their finger poking out the words while mouthing them.
Here are 2 ideas to modernize the GOP.
1. Repeal all marriage license laws and put that question back to the church where it belongs.
2. Declare that the environment is in better hands under private ownership than under Government control.
There is a new alignment coming. On one side will be Constitutionalist Capitalist Ecologists and on the other are Authoritarian Socialist Environmentalists. Make your choice. If you chosse option 2 you are a Big Government Pinhead.
Unbelievable. All she is doing is speaking at a conference about broadening the GOP tent, and the most many of you can muster is personal attacks. I think that says more about you than anyone else.
Are you the conservatives who believe in respecting our opponents – a respect so seldom shown the GOP by the left? When the left spills hate in opposition to a conservative’s stance against gay marriage, or high taxes, or socialism, are you the ones we look to in order to hold the line – with insults like “clueless, naive porker” and “overindulged, spoiled child”?
As a conservative, I disagree with much of what she said, but I do so in the hope that Juandos and Howard Roark and Brian and Delia are not the voices I would use. Here’s a rule – never post anything unless you would/could say it to someone’s face. By hiding in the anonymity of the internet with insults, by acting like jerks, you only act as neon paint proof that Jazz Shaw is correct in her characterization of Megan McCain’s speech.
All of you should read “Liberty and Tyranny” cover to cover, and clean up your voices. Otherwise, you’re no different, and no more eloquent, than Janeane Garofolo.
Why is she any more memorable then her father who managed to screw up two elections and cost the party countless numbers of seats. Why can’t we just forget the McCains and move on?
The words ‘progessive’ or ‘progessivism’ do not belong anywhere near the word ‘republican.’
That’s what Republicans need – our very own dim-witted limousine-liberals.
According to Wikipedia, she’s a 24-year old who has inherited great wealth, attended a leftist University, and never worked a real job a day in her life. In my business, these people are called “interns” and are assigned tasks like making photo-copies. I think I’ll look elsewhere for political advice.
Mr. Hawkins:
“The rest of the speech makes it clear what she means by being “this and that.” To be fair to Megan’s critics, her speech did indeed lend itself to some of the hyperbolic stereotypes of conservatives which portray them as rich, out of touch, angry, old, homophobic, racist white men who adore pollution and incinerate puppies in backyard burn barrels.”
She was speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans, and she pandered. This is exactly what cost her father the election.
He infringed upon the Constitution by pandering to the media and co-authored McCain-Feingold.
He infringed upon the Constitution by voting for “gun-control” schemes…by pandering.
What Megan McCain would describe as a “progressive Republican” is indeed a “RINO”…you get in the habit of pandering to any exclusive group, and you eventually lose your core constituencies.
This happened to the Democrats with the White blue-collar working class beginning in 1968, and was a done deal by 1972…they’ve been spiralling outward from what used to be their core ever since.
The McCain vision is a call to follow the Democrats’ example and embark on a similar quixotic quest.
“Speaking as one who lived with that label for years in New York, I can tell you that it’s not really all that amusing. It carries with it the unspoken imprint of one who is neither needed nor wanted. It means that you will grudgingly accept our votes and, perhaps, the odd member of our tribe to bolster your numbers in the legislature, but our opinions will not be found in the platform. We will at best be treated like the mentally deficient uncle who you can’t officially disown but you fervently hope won’t show up in the photo from the family reunion.”
Did it ever occur to you that Conservatives feel that they are treated the exact same way by the RINOs, 9or whatever name they have for themselves?).
“If so, I would submit that you have truly lost sight of the national mood and are allowing purist ideology to stand in the way of progress in the political arena.”
And there you have it… the RINO’s overarching directive:
“‘Progress’ at any Price”
can we call it what it REALLY is?
“Power for Power’s sake”.
Indeed, you folks truly deserve the pejorative label of “Democrat Lite”.
Can you define any bedrock principles that you would gladly stand fast for, even at the cost of electoral success?
You are as much, and perhaps more so, defined by what you are willing to DIE for as what you are willing to KILL for.
Give it some thought.
The article is totally off point. The conservative priniciples that are important are a much smaller Government, fiscal responsibility, peace through strength, personal responsibility, not rewarding failure, legal, controlled immigration and so on.
The RINOs give us a government that expands at a rate some what less than explosively, a debt that grows steadily but not breathtakenly, a smaller weaker military but not gutted entirely, compassion instead of consequences that regulate behavour, uncontrolled illegal immigration as long as the foreigners don’t step on citizens too bad and so on.
The results are not an “evolving conservativism” they are liberal lite. It’s not a question of letting “purist ideology to stand in the way of progress” because it’s not progress, it is a slower push in the wrong direction. If you live in St. Louis and need to go to Boston, you can’t get there by heading west no matter how slow you go.
Jazz Shaw is a DNC hack, arrogant enough to believe conservatives want to be led around by liberal, blonde air-heads like “Fluffy” McCain.
No serious person would waste 5 seconds listening to her totally unqualified musings. Except for Jazz Shaw, of course.
Megan McCain is the political equivalent of Kim Kardashian. Her head is full of fluff and only an intelletual lightweight such as “Jazz” Shaw could find any meaning in her vacuous pronouncements on the state of the Republican Party.
Neither Megan or her peripatetic father are conservatives, never have been, never will be.
I wonder how long till we see Megan on an episode of The Surreal Life showing us her tramp stamp and making out with Tia Tequila.
“porker”? Nice to know that the right can be just as insulting and dismissive as the left.
“to be a new, progressive Republican.”
Progressives by definition belong to the other party. If we change all our ideals to be like the progressive democrats, then we are no longer republican or conservative. There are plenty of true conservatives in her birth cohort.
I do not think we have to accept gay marriage. The majority of the country does not accept it. Whether gays and libs like it or not, we speak for the majority of Americans on this. We do not have to follow cockneyed science on the environment. Recycling, for example, is sometimes worse for the environment than disposal. CO2 is NOT a poisonous gas-it’s a requirement for our atmosphere. And we certainly can’t sacrifice our morals on being pro-life. People like this young lass speak breezily about listening to the rhinos. They just assume the true conservatives will stick around while our party goes to pot. This simply isn’t so. Go more progressive to gain some, you lose others.
Our main issue right now though, does need to be reducing government and spending drastically. And surely we can all agree on this.
Megan McCain is highly qualified to talk about…Megan McCain. I’ve never seen, heard or read anything out of her mouth, keyboard, etc. that leads me to believe she’s worth listening to on any other subject. Well, maybe on false eyelashes, but I’m not really in the market for expertise on that subject.
Dan: The words ‘progessive’ or ‘progessivism’ do not belong anywhere near the word ‘republican.’
Also add “progress” to that list as well, because the GOP surely isn’t making any in terms of attracting new voters.
Ms McCain’s sole qualification is having a father who managed to lose an election to a man with no experience whatsoever. What next, ask Saddam Hussein about national defense? He’s dead. She should be, as far as political advice goes.
#4 juandos
“Hmmm, a clueless, naive porker strings together a collection of inane rantings and somehow that deserves a mention?!?!”
I beg your pardon, but Rush Limbaugh is a highly respected radio host and alluding to his physical appearance only points our your shallowness.
“If we are only offered “new, progressive Republicans” why not stick with the “old, progressive Democrats”?”
I agree. Why doesn’t Megan just call herself a Democrat? And, she’s certainly not conservative.
It’s kind of like those people calling themselves Catholics but somehow being okay with abortion.
Meghan McCain is a liberal Democrat with only a Republican label; she is truly her father’s daughter. She just needs to admit she’s a liberal Democrat. She’s also a lightweight ditz ready for the Paris Hilton party as Rome burns.
Daddy McCain should be so proud.
Excuse ME !! A Progressive Republican???
The MSM love republicans that are really democrats…that is why they love McCain…because this agenda is a loser…and they want them to lose, not win…this young lady loves the attention, just like her father…but, is a pimple on the rear of conservatives….
We DON’T need to become more like them !!!
Her need for attention and to be liked is far more destructive than anything. She has no other foundation….too bad….but, she will fade with time..just like the other “conservative” children who became “progressive”…does the name Ron Reagan, and his sister ring a bell?? Once they became of no use..the liberal’s dropped them like hot rocks !! Now he does radio commercials for some useless product…there in lies the future for such as Ms McCain !!
Jazz Shaw speaks for…whom? 24-year-olds I guess. I was one once. I was just as green and arrogant as Meghan is, but because my Da was not famous I couldn’t reach a large audience with my callow opinions, for which I am now very very thankful. I would hate to spend my current time disowning all my past wrong-headed remarks. Meghan, shut the x up. Read more. Think more. Age like good wine. Come back and pontificate when you have reached 40. You will find it worth the wait.
#31 dadling:
“Now he does radio commercials for some useless product…there in lies the future for such as Ms McCain !!”
I don’t know about that…Playboy might make her an offer, (probably already has).
2 years from now we will only vaguely remember Meghan McCain, and it is highly doubtful we will remember any of what she had to say. Kind of like Reagan’s kids – what was it they were saying in their day?
Meghan’s right for the party, as long as you’re seeking a party of elite trust fund spending country-club snobs. She fails to resonate completely with the middle class, young entrepreneurial achievers, libertarians and other progressive Republicans.
Keep propping up the silver spoon elites and you’ll help propel a new party forward. Reform or die, Republicans!
Great idea! Lets indulge the worst instincts in some young people – created by a clueless sense of entitlement and narcissism feed to them by our schools and media.
Mehgan will one day either mature and start to understand the world or she will be a Democrat. In the mean time, I will not support the GOP going on a Democrat style vote buying program by trying to indulge naive immaturity.
The fact is that the left is actually wealthier than the conservatives on average. Conservatives give much more to charity. Everything about the stupid stereotype is wrong. There is no basis except ideological hatred.
If the ideological purists of the GOP — particularly the social liberals — wish to thin the herd by driving all the Conservatives from their midst, they are dooming the Republicans to a future as a regional party with little hope for electoral success on a national level.
Fixed it.
So, the answer is to have two liberal parties?
I, for one, refuse to surrender truth to falsehood. I believe in free market economics and Western Civilization, each of which are implied in the other.
The sad state of our culture today is the result of fifty years of socialist indoctrination. We must finally address that fact if we ever want to restore American values.
The problem with Ms. Mccain’s hypotheses on the Republican party is that the Party is in its’ current state because of the very views she espouses. We have become a party which stands for nothing. We appear willing to do anything or say anything to get elected. Furthermore, all of this posturing about the Republican Party becoming a regional party is pure fantasy. The death of the Republican Party will only happen if the party continues to listen to the media and the Democrat Party about how we should run our party. All the Republicans need to do is listen to the American people. Historically, the American people (regardless of age, religion, etc.) have supported smaller government, lower taxes, strong military, no outside interference, fiscal and social common sense, and honesty. When the Republican Party realize this, they will quit pandering to every special interest group and every demographic of the country. We are all Americans and we all share similar goals for a strong, free, and stable America. Ms. McCain should take her Dad’s hand and they should all retire from politics and pandering.
I don’t think Meghan is bravely doing anything. She is liberally applying her fathers formula to success. By saying not that “conservatism is cool” or “the Republican Party has real answers to the nations problems.” But by saying “look I’m not like conservatives, or like other republicans, I’m cool” Media just gobbles up every prominent member of the party who throws the rest of the party under the bus. It goes back to the MSM argument that the conservative philosophy is inherently flawed and merely a facade for feeding the rich more wealth, rather than a framework of freedom and infinite opportunity. Megan is representing herself and what she thinks will get her the most media exposure, and cares not what damage she might do to the conservative movement in the process. We need to move the electorate to the right by convincingly arguing our philosophy (and then following it when we gain office), not move ourselves to the left to pander to current popular sentiment and the media. Should we do so we will return to the moderate opposition party of the 30′s and 40′s and find ourselves in a permanent minority rejected by an American public looking for real answers, from a real philosophy. And if utilitarian collectivism is the only well defined philosophy out there that is what they will choose.
Meghan McCain is very typical of the nearly-extinct species of young conservatives. By denigrating her and her beliefs, you alienate essentially the entire next generation of smart young people who are trying to save the GOP from the schizoid reactionary right wing.
So you have a clear choice: Either allow moderates and conservatives to have an influential voice in your party, or continue to jettison each and every person who does not conform to your ridiculous and impractical standards.
The former choice softens the ideology of the fringe reactionary right wing, welcoming a lot more voters into the party but angering the reactionary purists, while the latter choice completely destroys the GOP and means perpetual victory for the Democrats.
Jazz, You moderates are a hoot. Progressive conservative? WTF? What’s next, a free-market communist, religious atheist? We can thank Republicans for the whole notion of “big government conservatism”, the RINO contradiction that embodies their fecklessness.
I have my own ideas of what conservatism is and what it should be and a 24 year-old vapid blonde might be the last person I consider an arbiter of such matters. However, I do commend Ms McCain for her efforts to enlarge the Republican tent. That being said, I think the sooner she disabuses the notion that Republican = conservative the more seriously she might be taken.
She should focus her efforts on recruiting younger moderates and leave bashing conservatives to the professionals, like her Dad, from whom it is apparent she learned that socon bashing is the quickest and surest way to media attention. She is being played and it is not helpful.
Grown-ups and real conservatives know that the principles of conservatism can be promoted and sold on their own merit without belittling fellow travellers. Tolerence, after all, is one of our strong suits.
On one of your points:
One of Ms. McCain’s chief flaws is the same as her father’s–she runs around trashing a very large percentage of Republicans to suck up to the other side, then says, “Hey, Republicans, be like me!” This does not put them in the mood to listen, to put it mildly.
Note that Rudy holds some views that the base doesn’t like, but he doesn’t inspire nearly the amount of ire from them. Why? Because he’s respectful of their different opinions. After listening to Rudy, I don’t feel like I need to ask someone to help me get the knife out of my back.
On another:
One compromise between social liberalism vs. social conservatism and other tricky issues might be a renewed emphasis on federalism. I don’t know that this would work–would the base sign on? Could we get the general public to understand that we’re advocating to devolve power to a local level and get the federal government out of their communities’ affairs? But it might be worth pondering.
You are absolutely correct. In my long lifetime there were many kinds of Republicans.
Some Catholic/Jewish/etc…and German/Irish/Chinese..etc…etc…etc…and we ALL agreed on only a few things; lower taxes, less government, strong military.
Gay marriage? Not a political problem.
We need to focus on the core beliefs of the party…and have room for anyone in America that would like to join us. We appear bigoted and narrow at this point…we’ve lost site of the bigger issues.
#41 PoM:
“Meghan McCain is very typical of the nearly-extinct species of young conservatives.”
I certainly hope so.
“By denigrating her and her beliefs, you alienate essentially the entire next generation of smart young people who are trying to save the GOP from the schizoid reactionary right wing.”
Can’t leave the pop-psych misdagnosis out of it, could you? You must need to put on a lab coat and a stethoscope as props to buttress your political opinion, huh?
“So you have a clear choice: Either allow moderates and conservatives to have an influential voice in your party, or continue to jettison each and every person who does not conform to your ridiculous and impractical standards.”
Re-JECTED! It’s not an either/or proposition, sport.
McCain Senior wan’t a guy who would make a tactical compromise now and again to attain a strategic advantage, (except for his career and the free “Maverick” airtime from the MSM), he consistently made concessions and adopted positions inimical to the conservative core constitency of the GOP.
You’re falling on your face by painting, or accepting, the conservative movement as some kind of monolithic Borg, (like the Liberal Democrats and their Groupthink).
The movement is mature enough to understand that compromise, by it’s nature, entails that you won’t always get what you want, but when it comes to a guy like McCain who seems to begin every negotiation with a position of how much he is willing for the movement to concede as opposed to how much the movement stands to gain, your choice becomes a “no-brainer”.
Which is why I voted for Barr.
Told ya it wasn’t “either/or”.
This upper class twit/moderate republican,incarnates what has made the GOP,a cohort of castrati’basically a giant butt for the Democrats to kick! Third party now!
Third party = Perpetual Democratic victory
One does not change their foundational beliefs like they change their socks.
The McCains need to go. Now. Seriously.
Enough already.
Without the McCain name we would never have heard of her. Who cares what she has to say about anything. Get a Job.
#6 above put it well: a “detente” appproach with some hot-button issues would be acceptable from a speaker that stood FOR something with a track record to match. MM’s done nothing, stands for nothing, obviously thinks of nothing. Paris Hilton has more credibility. Ms. California more . . honesty.
For heaven’s sakes why is PJM posting a piece centered on such a ditz? There are plenty of smart women around that can carry that water: Margaret Hoover looks better than MM and has the brainpower of the sun against MM’s nightlight.
There is indeed a good basis to insist that some GOP positions need a fresh look, but it needs to come from someone with cred, not the ditzy daughter of “I guess we’ll run him since we don’t have anyone better.”
“nearly-extinct species of young conservatives”
Young conservatives have been “nearly extinct” since the 1800′s
Winston Churchill
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart. If
you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.”
Again it was developing a good philosophy and arguing it effectively, not pandering, that started the conservative movement, that elected Reagan, and straying from our stated philosophies, got us deposed. We tried big government conservatism, it got us the lowest approval ratings ever enjoyed by an American President. Moderate conservatism is a confused message that inspires no one, that again gave the Democrats nearly 2 decades of unopposed power in the 30′s in 40′s. Why do we want to walk the same road again?
30′s in response to an unpopular Republican President voters elect the most liberal President to Date FDR.
In response to FDR’s popularity, Republicans adopt a more moderate stance. Democrats remain in strong majority for close 20 years.
70′s in response to an unpopular Republican President voters elect the most liberal President to Date JEC.
In response Republicans revise their message, adopt a solid conservative philosophy, and retake the Presidency in 4 years, and though loosing the presidency after 3 terms take a majority in the house and senate.
Now here we are in the 2000′s
in response to an unpopular Republican President voters elect the most liberal President to Date BHO.
What option do you want?
#47 PoM:
“Third party = Perpetual Democratic victory”
Not quite.
In this case, Third Party = Unpalatable Republican Candidate = The Most Liberal Democrat President…EVER!
Also, this may be the Mother of All Strategic Withdrawals…rather like the retreat to the Pusan Perimeter in Korea.
In less than 100 days, the Alleged Hawaiian’s neo-Marxist policies have sparked a backlash of anywhere from a quarter million to 600,000 run-of-the-mill Americans in protest, nationwide…and this with squat for funding and publicity.
Think about it.
The backlash against this clown might just be akin to the shock expierenced by the NorKos after the Inchon landings.
Especially in light of his obscene porkulus not being due to be spent untill 2010-12 time frame.
If I read my TEA-leaves right, (and I may be wrong), any politician who shows up and says he’s a Democrat in 2010 or so on out might likely be automatically shaved, sterilized and institutionalized by his own would-be constituents.
Please remember that last April 15th was the last “Bush tax” we had to pay.
Wanna guess what mood folks will be in NEXT year, when they have to start paying ObamaTaxes?
Frankly, I reckon that his own patrons have already figured out that he, like Carter, is a one-termer fluke…that’s why their gluttony at the public trough is so spectacular…if you’re honest about it, it has the stink of desperation.
Like high school kids hitting their parents’ booze stash over a weekend…gettin’ as much as they can suck down before Mom and Dad come back home.
Poor Meghan McCain. Bless her misguided, uninformed soul. Will someone PLEASE tell her that she’s being played for a fool by the loonie-Left? I guess the Right uses Janeane Garofalo for the same purpose but really, isn’t Janeane more fun to laugh at? Watch her get all wound up, pretend she makes sense, turn her loose and pass the popcorn!
Master of Sockpuppets writes:
“Third party = Perpetual Democratic victory”
Bravo. Bring it on. If the Republican party will not self-reform, let it die. Your assessment is unfortunately inaccurate in that the vacuum its death will create will indeed be filled, not left in perpetuity as you claim. Let Meghan, her father and other elite socialites join the Democratic party as they so desire. So what if they feel conflicted that some aspect of the DNC is inconsistent with their views – their views are rationally inconsistent themselves. Show me a single principled, consistent view of McCain; he’s another utilitarian-driven income redistribution parasite. Look at his views on health care as an example; McCain seeks not economic principle but a compassionate, softer version of governmental tyranny. He seeks to be a loved and adored master and Meghan and her ilk want to absolve her guilt for being privileged elites.
Three words for all of them: Not your money
Increasingly, I think we need to segment society and allow people to opt in to the contract they seek with their protective association aka “state.” Rather than recognize geographic outlines for state membership, let those who seek oppressive governmental intervention opt-in to such a “state” along with its confiscatorial taxation, while those who desire no security blanket, social security, government health care, unemployment assistance, etc. can opt-in to an alternate association, commensurate with its very low taxation. Want to get it started? Let citizens choose their state regardless of geographic location. County fees pay for roads and other infrastructure-specific requirements.
Give me a party that pushes my independence to choose my social contract and I’ll show you a party that replaces the tired, pathetic and ethically lost Republican party.
The way to get the GOP back on its feet politically is not by electing more RINO’s to power it’s by staying true to our core principles a fact that both McCains consistently fail to realize.
The farther you go left the more the politcal base of the GOP made up of conservatives tend to not vote for you…how is this so hard to fanthom.
Oh I forgot to add…..
The Reagan years of successful conservative philosophy also had the interesting side effect of moving the Democrats to the right. Ala Clinton, who pandered to conservative philosophy to stay in office after the Perot/Bush budget fiasco got him elected. History, read it, love it, learn from it.
Michael C. Keehn: “Oh I forgot to add…..
The Reagan years of successful conservative philosophy also had the interesting side effect of moving the Democrats to the right. Ala Clinton, who pandered to conservative philosophy to stay in office after the Perot/Bush budget fiasco got him elected. History, read it, love it, learn from it.”
Please explain to me what exactly was fiscally conservative about Reagan’s policies in office? He spent like a liberal and was socially moderate.
Pastor of Muppets is way off base…you don’t change your principles w/ the wind to bring in the youth vote…that’s called pandering. The self esteem movement was a bust if you recall. The GOP by it’s “progressive” actions, it’s terrible inability to stand on principle and a piss poor PR machine to counteract the Liberal demagogue echo chambers has all but rendered themselves neutered. I for one have zero desire to donate any resources whatsoever to them as I don’t see them as worthy of my trust again.
A third party will rise. Not in a formalized way but a loose broad coalition of anti-politicians united in their disdain and distrust of the current set of inbreds we have now. The party will have zero baggage and zero traditions so it will have the ability to attract people of all persuasions with a message of less gov’t intrusion.
BTW Can anyone explain to me how you can sign off on the largest and arguably most important piece of paper that will ever come across your desk that will impact hundreds of millions of people for generations to come without ever reading it?
Seriously, if anyone of us ever did that as a CEO, an attorney, a student, a doctor, a teacher, an employee etc…we’d be fired, ridiculed and or dragged over the proverbial coals for gross negligence. We’d be treated like an AIG or auto exec.
That’s where our message and venom needs to be aimed at. That is something we can unite around.
Focus on the people who warrant our condemnation, not some spoiled know it all Paris Hilton wannabe.
The author’s right. M. McCain is on to something and conservatives would do well to pay attention.
APRIL FOOLS DAY WAS 20 DAYS AGO.
TIME TO STOP PLAYING HOAXES AND PRATICAL JOKES ON YOUR READERS.
GOOD EFFORT BUT I MEAN WHO WOULD REALLY BELIEVE AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “WHY MEGAN MCCAIN IS RIGHT”
You have to be kidding me. Becoming ‘progressive Republicans’ is what ruined the party. The only people cheering this move are Democrats who want no opposition to their social agenda.
Pastor writes: “Please explain to me what exactly was fiscally conservative about Reagan’s policies in office?”
You have the internet and presumably a library. I suggest you use them. I doubt too many folks here want to invest their time in your reeducation. But please also give this some thought: Obama, an unqualified, two-autobiography-writing, community-organizing, way-far-left, Rev.-Wright- adulating, junior senator just won an election by beating a “moderate” Republican and father. Perhaps that should tell you something about the national popularity of “moderate” Republicans.
Another fair-haired lass offering another apple which hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. Sadly, Jazz doesn’t appear to be what it used to be, either.
Cloner: Pastor of Muppets is way off base…you don’t change your principles w/ the wind to bring in the youth vote…that’s called pandering. The self esteem movement was a bust if you recall. The GOP by it’s “progressive” actions, it’s terrible inability to stand on principle and a piss poor PR machine to counteract the Liberal demagogue echo chambers has all but rendered themselves neutered. I for one have zero desire to donate any resources whatsoever to them as I don’t see them as worthy of my trust again.
Pastor of Muppets is not “way off base.” If the GOP had actually been progressive in any form, it might still have some members. But instead of “pandering”, as you say, to growing mass of young people with moderate values, it instead “pandered” to a shrinking group of reactionary right wing Republicans who simply do compose a group large enough to win elections anymore.
And the reactionaries who have essentially hijacked the GOP and bled it of any moderate voices have destroyed any chances for future victories.
The GOP, if it lives long enough, is truly going to regret that it allowed the Rush Limbaughs of the world to drive it off a cliff in order to appease 250,000 teabaggers.
The bottom line is that the Republican Party needs to change the way they operate. I know many will not agree but, in short, they need to abandon the abortion and gay stuff or they will continue to lose. The reason why they will continue to lose is demographic. Their base is dying and you can’t win elections anymore with old white people. Professor Larry Sabato, who studies politics and demographic shifts, points to 2008 as a realignment election in his latest book. “The Year of Obama: How Barack Obama won the White House.” Three main shifts portend years of wilderness for conservatives and Republicans.
1.) The young broke more than 2-1 Democratic, and it was an intense preference unlikely to fade quickly. As this group ages and replaces older voters, Democrats will benefit even more since this group’s turnout will go up.
2.) The proportion of minority voters (black, Hispanic, and Asian) shot up and is likely to climb consistently every four years (mainly because of Hispanics). Democrats get about three-quarters of the votes of minorities, taken as a collective group.
3.)Americans with post-graduate educations have begun to move firmly to the Democrats, not just because of Bush and the economy but also because of the GOP’s conservative stance on social issues (abortion, gay rights, etc.)
“The big idea of this book is that 2008 looks to be a realigning election — a very rare event in American history,” Sabato told Politico’s Mike Allen. “The previous three were 1896, 1932, and 1980. Translation: The Democratic majority is going to last for a while.”
Until the Republican Party can speak specifically to the issues that these groups are concerned about (rather than turning them off considerably) it is hard to see how they bounce back. So far it doesn’t look good.
#61 AtheistConservative; “You have to be kidding me. Becoming ‘progressive Republicans’ is what ruined the party. The only people cheering this move are Democrats who want no opposition to their social agenda.”
It isn’t about cheering or not cheering it is about being aware of the demographic shifts that are taking place and responding to them so that you survive (as opposed to burying your head in the sand and doing business as usual). Meghan McCain seems to understand this despite her youth. One thing that I didn’t mention in my comment #65, is the fact that caucasians are not reproducing as much as the other above mentioned groups. As a voting base, whites are shrinking not expanding. You can only go to that well so many times before it runs dry. Again, this is a fact. The country is becoming browner, if you will. So, what do republicans and conservatives do to respond to this? They go to “teabagging” rallies with a bunch of old white people and preach to the choir. I know, I know, you’re going to say there was diversity there. With the exception of a few here and there, however, it was by and large a white gathering. No one denies this.
Reagan
Presided over the smallest increase in non-defense budget increases in the past 20 years? Setting a trend that would lead to a budget surplus following cold war defense spending under a Republican controlled congress and a “moderate” Democrat President. A pro-life president, who admitted to regretting signing into law abortion legislation while Governor of California. A strong supporter of the death penalty. His campaign for President
lower taxes, less government interference in peoples’ lives, states’ rights, and a strong national defense.
History what a thing.
Praetorian, stop it. The American people went to Tea Parties–not tea bagging. Can you not think for yourself? Never mind, don’t answer the question. I know the answer.
I have had a better experience talking to a chalk board than trying to reason with you.
I would like to see Meghan McCain in a movie about her life; her co-star would be her pampered sentient million dollar toilet, Monroe. They would have such wacky misadventures. Every time she gets into trouble with her mouth all she does is flush Monroe & gets her out of the situation. She goes right in the toilet & out the other end.
So let me get this straight, for the Republicans, (notice I did not say Conservatives) to be successful during the elections they have to become more like Democrats! Yeah that’s the ticket!
Well if I recall in 2006, the Republicans lost their base because they weren’t Conservative enough.
Just to introduce myself, I go by the moniker “Toady”. I am a liberal and like many liberals, I listen to voices I disagree with, including voices here.
Meghan McCain recently made the following statement:
I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people’s lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock. I believe in a strong national defense. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And yes, I am a Republican,
I believe there is a great age divide in this country. The republican message does not resonate with our youth. And as they grow older the advantage currently enjoyed by democrats becomes stronger day by day.
Meghan is the only republican that makes me think this trend could possibly be reversed. She speaks to the youth… to our future.
The message of Limbaugh and Hannity isn’t working, except with an ever shrinking fraction of the population. Meghan’s message could work and that causes me some concern.
I don’t pretend that anyone hear will ever look to me for advice. I will say this nonetheless. If the republican party continues to cede the youth vote to the democrats then the elections of 2006 and 2008 will seem like a fond memory in 2012 and 2014.
I would be careful about dissing ms. mccain.
Meghan McCain is nothing more than a brainwashed fool.
I am not white, I am not a homophobe. I am a Latino male who does not believe homosexuals should be married.
Meghan is the racist, hater who believes that anyone that disagrees with her is a crazy redkneck. She is not a RINO, she is a Liberal wolf is Republican sheep clothing. She is a fake.
The problem with the Republican party are individuals like her to give credence to the stupid stereotypes that are out there about Republicans.
I demand an apology from Meghan McCain and the idiot that wrote this article.
I am a Latino, middle class, and I have a degree in Political Science/International studies, currently purusing an MBA and looking to get admitted into a Political Science Ph.D. program.
Meghan McCain comes accross as a snub, an uneducated, poorly informed snub, who is angry at the Republican party for rejecting her father’s RINO stances. But, like father like daughter, right?
She is the typical Republican that does much more harm to the Republican and Conservative movement than anything the left may say.
Once gain, I demand an apology from this air head.
What this idiot does not realize, just like her father didn’t, that the media and the left may pretend to like her now, but just wait until she presents a danger to the left. They will eat her alive!
Meghan, idiot, what do you say about Latinos like me who are Conservatives? Sorry, we do not fit nicely into your racist mind.
Man the McCain’s are idiots!
Praetorian
“It isn’t about cheering or not cheering it is about being aware of the demographic shifts that are taking place and responding to them so that you survive” Sometimes it is sooooo frustrating to talk to the unprincipled. This is not the first time we’ve faced this as a nation or a party. We recovered not by moving left but by moving the demographic back to the right with convincing argument and debate.
Your right about the tea parties demographic, more important than race though was class. The demographic represented almost exactly the middle class. The economic heavy lifters. Look at the opinion polls about said tea parties you will find the majority of Americans with positive views, all this despite scathing coverage by two of three major news networks. But go ahead, group people by color, gender, sexual orientation, whatever, just don’t treat them like concerned individuals, who want individual freedom and opportunity. This politics of pandering to demographic special interest is exactly what pisses most Americans off about politics. And if you had watched better coverage of the tea parties you’d know that.
That’s how Democrats do politics. Find a demographic, figure out what they want, promise to give it to them esp at the expense of a widely disliked group, get elected. Politics by demographic, everybody belongs in a group with others. You are identified by your group. No such thing as individuality.
Republican success in politics treat everyone as an individual regardless of xxx trait, sell conservative message as the philosophy which best protects life, liberty, property, and opportunity of all individuals. Get elected. Now when we don’t stay true to philosophy that’s when we have problems.
“The republican message does not resonate with our youth”
I addressed this earlier. Will someone at least rebut my argument that liberal thought has always enjoyed an overwhelming support from the young? Youth trending toward liberal belief is not new. Not some raging fire that just suddenly sprung up and now we either address it by abandoning our philosophy or get swept away as they age and we die off. Somehow during their years many of them find something in conservatism that resonates with them.
Winston Churchill
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart. If
you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.”
forgot to mention one other “qualification” this well-rounded young…errr…lady has…apparently Ms. McCain is quite the music video reviewer (and still drools longingly for Eminem)…can’t beat qualifications like that with a stick, I tell ya! (see the Campaign Spot at NRO for details)
To :: 1. Delia:
>No offense but “Megan McCain” bores the hell out of me right OR wrong.
Her father is a tricky sob,
Plus, I’m hotter. ;p
Of course you are))
you have a picture by any chance?
Moderate Republicans are Democrat-lite. Why vote for a fake Democrat in a Moderate Republican when you can have a real Democrat? This is why McCain lost among other reasons.
A strong CONSERVATIVE needs to rise from the ranks & take the lead of the Republican Party. The RINO’s need to be flushed out & be on Contessa Brewer’s MSNBC program with Meghan McCain.
I don’t see this as a “gay rights” issue, but as a “slippery slope” issue on what will happen after marriage is re-defined.
Once we agree that a civil union between gays equals discrimination, and that marriage should be re-defined, how can we prevent a subsequent futher re-definition by those who seek polygamy (such as fundamentalist Mormons) or polyamory (marriage between 2 women/1man or 2men/1women).
Once marriage is re-defined on a civil rights basis, how can we deny the rights of those who seek multiple wives, or multiples husbands, or a 3-way marriage? Once we have started down this slippery slope by acquiescing to gay marriage, how can we then draw the line to prevent other marriages between polygamists or bisexuals who claim that their civil rights are also being violated? Whether we like it or not, redefining marriage will have profound effects on society, families, and children.
Just google pro-polyamory if you don’t believe that this battle will immediately follow any re-definition of traditional marriage to gay marriage.
Just what we need big brother leftist Democrats and little brother leftist Republicans.
Michael C. Keehn: “That’s how Democrats do politics. Find a demographic, figure out what they want, promise to give it to them esp at the expense of a widely disliked group, get elected. Politics by demographic, everybody belongs in a group with others. You are identified by your group. No such thing as individuality.
Republican success in politics treat everyone as an individual regardless of xxx trait, sell conservative message as the philosophy which best protects life, liberty, property, and opportunity of all individuals. Get elected. Now when we don’t stay true to philosophy that’s when we have problems.”
Say what you want about how Democrats do politics, for better or worse. In the end, it is about who has the most votes right? The Democrats understand this and are honing their message to accommodate these demographic shifts and new voters. As far as your philosophy is concerned there is accumulating data that it is being rejected. Denial (or a teabagging rally) is often the only refuge a person has, so by all means indulge yourself. Incidentally, even if conservatives wanted to reverse these demographic trends of whites not reproducing it may already be too late. I understand that the median age of the average Republican (white) is now in their mid sixties. Way past the ability to bear children for the fuhrer. All we have to do is wait you guys out. You’ll die out one by one. But don’t fret. We’ll stand vigilantly by your bedside as your body is nourished and you are made more comfortable by the warm milk of universal care. We will hold your hand and stroke your forehead as you enter the next expression.
The ditzes are coming out of the woodwork,and they aren’t all blond!
It is normal to be liberal when you are young and stupid. My first vote for POTUS was Jimmy Carter. I was a strong believer in global cooling at the time. Again, young and stupid.
There are few classic liberals left in this country and when they speak out they are normally attacked by the left. A perfect example would be Joe Lieberman.
Democrats are basically a large group of degenerates. You can compile a who’s who list of degenerates that call themselves Democrats. From hard-core porn kings like Larry Flynt to every gangster rapper known to man. You will find that 70%+ of the military vote republican while 70%+ of convicted felons vote Democrat.
The party of JFK and Truman has become the party of degenerates. This is what happens when the far-left runs your party.
Kudos steveg!!!!!!!!!!
Melissa #78:
Isn’t that the same parade of horribles offered to oppose the abolition of race-marriage laws? Just because gays marry and get the same nagging spouses as the rest of us does not mean I get three wives (which sounds OK to me, but I couldn’t afford them). Opposition to gay marriage is based in religion or some reactive dislike of gays (which Perez Hilton did a lot to stir by beating up on Ms. California). But I am serious: I think Don Rumsfeld was a top notch guy; I want the best military hardware we can afford: I would have tweaked Cahzez’s nose and put a “kick me” sign on his commodious ass. But I could not care less if gays get married. From the standpoint of individual liberty, opposing gay marriage is wrong.
John: As I advised you (in an e-mail before the election), an advisement which the idiots you have working for you no doubt deleted as soon they read it, as long as you are bashing Republicans, the media (leftist shills) will love you. But once you tepidly went after the Kenyan-born clown who now disgraces the White House, those shills in the so-called media deserted you. I am a Veteran, and I voted for you for one reason: Sarah Palin.
Steveg (#82), I agree completely. My first vote for President of the United States was in 1992 for Democrat, Bill Clinton; I also naively believed throwing money at a situation solved any problems. Those 4 years proved me wrong. I started a subtle shift Right until I voted full on Republican since 2000. In most local elections, I have voted Republican.
“The bottom line is that the Republican Party needs to change the way they operate. I know many will not agree but, in short, they need to abandon the abortion and gay stuff or they will continue to lose”
Again, this is complete nonsense. It presumes something we know to be false: that McCain lost because he wasn’t liberal enough. He lost, barely, because he ran against a celebrity that the media trumped up to be the answer to all prayers. He still garnered almost half the vote, folks, so it’s not as if he was trounced.
When people are fooled into making a dumb choice the answer is not to make yourself dumber. It’s to educate them. Rasmussen has been reporting that the country is still polling strongly half pro-Republican and half pro-Democrat. We’re losing nothing; it’s a natural reaction to 8 years of a (so-called) Republican president and a media celebrity campaign. Stop sounding the death knell.
82. steveg: . . . writes “Democrats are basically a large group of degenerates . . . 70%+ of the military vote republican . . . ”
How dare you say that 30% of our brave young men and women in harm’s way are degenerates. Why don’t you support ALL our troops? They fight to protect ALL Americans, not just the ones who vote Republican. Why are you underming America’s efforts in the war on terror? You’re a disgrace to the red, white and blue.
Praetorian
So the penny drops…. “it is about who has the most votes right?” You don’t care about anything but getting votes…obtaining office, that sweet taste of power, would like to see conservatism drop off the face of the Earth, and your past arguments entail…..a suggestion that we moderate. So very Alinsky, all means are inherently justified by ends… I note you made no response to the fact that polling shows a favorable public view of the tea parties. The “conservative philosophy” has been moved away from before and it has returned before.
This comment “even if conservatives wanted to reverse these demographic trends of whites not reproducing” hahaha! Wow! Leftist racism at it’s best!
I personally would rather stand on the principals of what I believe is right morally, what is best for my country, and my many countrymen. If the race demographics change in the world so what? Who really cares? Not I. I just want what’s best for humankind, a real path of progress that doesn’t include a permanent overseer class and a permanent herded class; Real enlightenment, not some fake entitlement driven government distopia.
I’m going to use this thread in the future as an example of how concern trolls try to drive commentary. Thanks for your help!!
“Jazz Shaw is a heretical, Northeastern former RINO . . .” No wonder. He has no critical thinking ability. He can write, yes, but it’s no great thing to write when you can’t think.
On of My Own, do you ever say anything meaningful & worthwhile? In other words, what is your point other than to be a fly in the ointment?
Your straw men always fall down when you build them on sand. As Obama would say, this is a distraction.
#88 one of my own… Please, save your faked indignation. Everyone knows the Liberal Left is the reason the war in Iraq that is going so well is poorly portrayed in the MSM (not to mention the dismal treatment our troops have ALWAYS endured at the hands of the uncaring libs). Our own President Carter II can barely hide his disgust when talking about anything military related. Save your chest beating and flag waving for your code pink rallies.
#86 Sebastian…..1991/1992 is when I changed party affiliation. It has mostly to do with how Clarence Thomas was treated by libdem senators at his confirmation. I believe the term Justice Thomas used was ‘a high tech lynching’. That is when I realized how racist the left was toward black conservatives.
The republican party is far from perfect, but I have no doubt they are pro-american, pro-capitalist and pro-military.
I have a hard time intrusting our economy with a party that is bought and paid for by unions, trial lawyers and environmental extremist. Basically any group that is detrimental to small or large business. Most of all I have trouble intrusting a party that give taxpayer money to an organization that is guilty of election fraud in 12 states.
No Jazz she does NOT speak to young conservatives. Wrong. No one cares about her or what she thinks – she is dull, intellectually vapid and I wish she would go away. She’s inarticulate. I think she will actually go away soon – the media seems to be finished using her. And I hope McCain goes way too. Sometimes I think it’s better that Obama won and can ruin the country as a Democrat. The GOP still has hope to find itself again and explain to people what liberty is and why it is important. If McCain had won the GOP would be toast.
Yes, I must agree, Ms. McCain’s intellect and writings are easily comparable to Cicero’s “On the Republic” or Aquinas’s, “Summa Theologica.” How could we not follow such a great pontificating political philosopher such as her. We would be fools not to listen!!
Now that I have received treatment for crack problem and I am back to reality, are you kidding?
This kind of trolling to get comments is ridiculous. It’s like visiting a teen shock forum where people create controversial thread titles and then fill it with content deliberately made to generate as many comments as possible while the author snickers at how seriously people took their thread.
Anyway, to answer your points.
-Most Americans are against gay marriage. Both left and right. Young and old. Including myself – a college student. It’s hard to say where young people stand on gay marriage. On one hand they’re bombarded with tons of gay activism from their favorite sources of entertainment and from their own schools. But on the other hand gay slurs are extremely popular with young people in everyday speech.
-Environmentalists often deserve the insults conservatives sling at them. I know because I used to be one. There’s nothing wrong with pratical environmentalism but most green movements are simply ridiculous. They’ve been used as platforms for all kinds of radical ideologues. And standing up against that mountain of stupidity with reason and pragmaticism is something we should be proud of. Especially when it has such huge impacts on global standards of living. DDT ban ring a bell when thinking about green extremism?
-Proud outspoken conservatives are probably our best chance to win congressional and presidential elections. Just look at Reagan. He won like 47 out of the 50 states in the 80s. And he won despite the liberals you’re so worried about hating him with a passion. Handsome, well spoken, proud conservatives can definitely win elections. McCain was a longshot due to running against a “historical” opposing candidate who’s a decent speaker and because was simply very unpopular. Don’t overreact to the loss of a single election and think we need to radically change our entire party.
-Who cares of leftists stereotype us? We stereotype them to. Regardless of what we do Hollywood liberals will still hate us, liberal academia will still hate us, media liberals will still hate us. There’s nothing we can do about it other than get more conservatives in those fields.
-Despite your scoffing at Republicans going back to their conservative roots in order to renovate their image, it is the best route to take. We need to regain the image of fiscal responsibility and reestablish complete dominance when it comes to trust in economic issues. Most of the people I know who are Republicans is because they believe the Republicans are far better with the economy and keeping taxes low. If we lose that faith we’re done.
We also need to revamp our national security stances so people see us as more trustworthy when it comes to protecting our country and our allies without looking like loose cannons who love using peace signs as dart boards.
Another thing we desperately need to do is to get extremely vocal about fixing illegal immigration. Because trust me, illegal immigration is a huge issue both left and right and I don’t care if any poll says otherwise. Almost everyone I know has a very stong opinion about it and almost all of them want illegals deported and the borders sealed shut. And no they aren’t racists. This topic transcends race and politics. They simply can’t understand why politicans let this happen and haven’t stopped it years ago. So promising to fix illegal immigration and making it a major part of their campaign will get a lot more people out to vote who never get interested in politics and would almost guarantee Republican election victories.
Conservatives do not need representation from trust fund, bandwagon, bend-with-the-wind Republicans like Miss McCain. Her safety net is padded and lined with velvet.
What we need to hear, and hear again and again, are the voices of experience from those young people slogging it out in the trenches, like the eloquent young single mother in Texas (the video is buried somewhere on YouTube) who spoke out at a TEA party rally about wanting a better life than government social programs could provide her. These young people are not acting out on their “feelings” like Miss McCain, but rather, challenging government policies that they know, from experience, can and will do future harm (different environmental standards for developing countries anyone?). They do prefer taxation with representation, and they know that is not provided by representatives and executives who sign legislation they have not even read, much less debated.
And pity the Republican party if its platform is as poorly written as Miss McCain’s “position paragraph” in her self serving and aggrandizing speech (count the I’s). Columbia indeed.
Ms. McCain should declare herself a liberal in the highest order.
I can’t stand Republicans, but she’s the only one that seems to have a brain. I kinda like her. I hope she can get more in her party to wake up and join modern America.
91. Sebastian Shaw: . . . On of My Own, do you ever say anything meaningful & worthwhile?
SS, everything I say is meaningful and worthwhile to me. That’s WHY I say them. That’s why you say what you say, because you think it’s meaningful and worthwhile.
In this case, SteveG said, “Democrats are basically a large group of degenerates.” He thinks that’s meaningful and worthwhile. I disagree with that assertion. In fact, I think it’s absolutely idiotic. And so I call out his nonsense while highlighting the ironic hypocrisy of conservatives’ habitual accusations of anti-American attitudes among the left. Consider it a two-fer.
If “meaningful and worthwhile” were truly your standards, you would have called out SteveG on his ridiculous statement. You didn’t because “meaningful and worthwhile” are NOT your standards. Blind ideological agreement is your standard.
And so you are rendered irrelevant. Another doofus goes down for the count. Let me know if you want me to diagnose that lump on your nose.
A little of your own . . .
Liberals are scared of tea parties. That’s why they’re talking about it on this board.
Conservatives are scared of Meghan McCain. That’s why they’re talking about her on this board.
Hard to say which is more ridiculous.
#77 — Moderate Republicans are Democrat-lite. Why vote for a fake Democrat in a Moderate Republican when you can have a real Democrat? This is why McCain lost among other reasons.
The difference between “moderate” republicans and what people here call “conservatives” is almost entirely the social dictating. Lose the gay marriage and abortion stupidity and ALL republicans and conservatives are 100% on the same page. Lose the social issues and you outnumber the left. “Moderate” republicans are only moderate vis a vis social issues.
Interestingly, almost everyone knows this except for the diehard far right types. Certainly the left knows it. This is THE big reason the left takes great pains via the media to continually paint all republicans as reactionary Rush listeners, that ALL republicans are homophobic born again would-be abortion clinic bombers.
The stuff you type indicates one thing and one thing only, and that’s that the lefty news feed owns your thoughts by feeding you what you think you want to hear. Social conservatives in reality are a parasitic fringe group that doesn’t represent the majority of the republican party, much less the majority of the country. (Who do you think coined the term RINO, anyway? The rank and file? No, it was one of those family values buffoons after a midnight tryst with a gay prostitute. They have to keep hold of the reins somehow!) Rid the party of nothing more than gay marriage and abortion and 65% of the country easily votes republican. There is NOTHING leftist about moderate republicans.
Miss McCain’s preaching to the choir, apt metaphor. That means, tattoo notwithstanding, the pews are still empty on her watch.
“ Jazz ‘Matthew’ Shaw – Is Meghan McCain really that much of an abomination for pointing out the log in her own party’s eye before plucking the splinter from that of the Democrats?”
I don’t believe she’s an abomination more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The left is using her, has put her on a temporary pedestal that will be viciously destroyed once she speaks in a way the left finds threatening. That Democrat splinter you speak of is enough to equal two logs.
G Alston
“There is NOTHING leftist about moderate republicans”
Riiigggggghhhhht……
Arlen Specter/Olympia Snow just believe that trillions of dollars in random government deficit spending is a good idea but they are really conservative! Honest!
“Moderate” Republicans have a history of voting in new entitlements, immigration amnesty, and growing government spending. Etc. Etc.
This article is a typical example of the kind of woolly-minded disregard for core principles we can really do without. The implication is that ideological values are nothing more than political baubles – bait designed to hook voters for the sole purpose of gaining power, without any thought given to the object or goal of that power.
Meghan McCain is a confused young lady who is hopelessly lost in a foggy maze of non-concretes and uncertainty – torn between the liberalism of her peers and a glitzy trust-fund lifestyle on the one hand; her loyalty towards the Republican identity of her lifelong Republican father on the other.
She copes with this psychological trauma by attempting to bring the two together so that it is the responsibility of they, not her, to adapt and change. In her mind, the right and the left should stop making her feel so awful about herself and meet her halfway so that she can conform both to parental and peer pressures.
Indulging the psychological therapy of Meghan McCain by discarding the very principles which make me a libertarian conservative in the first place is NOT an option. Nor is pandering to an immature voting base who will in all likelihood change their views with life experience.
Ten years ago, in my mid twenties, I was a left leaning liberal. I was passionate about causes I knew little about, I stamped my feet and made a lot of noise and shoehorned a plethora of half-digested facts into a trendy ideological template based on my desire to be accepted by my friends and to conform to the sense of life expected of me by a mainstream “youth” culture I had neither the means nor the will to challenge. I liked Michael Moore, I hated “corporations” and “military aggression.” I was passionate about green issues, thought people should be forced to stop having babies and truly believed that humanity could learn to get along if only they’d take ecstasy and dance to techno music together.
And then what happened? I grew up. I listened and observed. I learned a lot more about human nature, about process, about the metaphysics of existence. Half digested facts taken out of context became solid facts in their proper context. I became more intellectually independent. It mattered less what my friends thought of me. Expressing an eternal allegiance to the arrogant naivety of youth didn’t seem so important anymore. I read more books.
And more importantly, I took to getting involved in online debate. When I first started using the internet 10 year ago, I’d get involved in passionate arguments on forums and chat rooms and I’d take the same left wing stance I’d always taken in agreement with my friends. This was my chance to engage those “right wing meanies” we’d always bitched about. I was going to let them have it. I was going to teach them a thing or two, make them see the error of their ways.
At first I’d be like most naive young liberals online – I would state my case arrogantly and respond to all rebuttals with a bunch of anger and abuse. If someone was more knowledgeable on a subject than me, I’d call them a right wing shill, “one of them,” anything to avoid the truth.
But I always had a solid kernel of reason and logic and a desire for honesty, deep down – and I’d always had the niggling feeling that I wasn’t being honest. It’s the kind of feeling you repress when you’re young, but you can’t repress it forever. I started listening to the arguments I was given. I started accepting their challenges to “go look things up.” I began to see that they were right and I was wrong. As I matured, I became more inclined and able to admit I was wrong. Slowly, I turned around. I found myself not hating the “right wingers” I’d fought tooth and nail with before, then I started to like them. I began to appreciate their allegiance to reason, their no-nonsense sense of life, their refusal to let the irrational side of human emotions cloud their judgment. I developed a healthy respect for the factual truth, for reality. This was a respect that was always in me but which had been obscured and hidden by the intense hormonal and social pressures of youth.
It was being confronted time and time again wit the error of my views that brought me in line with reality and steered me toward a pro-America, pro-West, pro-freedom, pro-capitalism, pro-individualist stance. And at the age of 36 there is no way on God’s Earth that I’m going to unlearn what I know.
I know that my experience is not uncommon. God help us if we lose our ideological backbone just for the sake of pandering to a bunch of kids who are going through a childish phase. There are those, like Meghan McCain, who will retain that naivety for a lot longer. Philosophy is much less important to them than popularity. God help us all if we shape the world into the image of their non-values.
#105 — “Moderate” Republicans have a history of voting in new entitlements, immigration amnesty, and growing government spending. Etc. Etc.
If you think you have a real case you’re going to have to examine a voting record like Specter’s and compare his stated philosophies with the requirements of realpolitik. You’re either a moron or a child if you think that government can be operated solely from a purist philosophical standpoint and not compromise. Specter may well trade all sorts of votes for social stuff he’s not a believer in so that he gets his way for defense issues. And he would be right to do so. You have not shown this to not be the case, and like most of your bedfellows you simply regurgitate whatever simplistic mantra has been fed to you by the likes of Limbaugh. Even parrots have better sense than that.
“The republican message does not resonate with our youth. And as they grow older the advantage currently enjoyed by democrats becomes stronger day by day.”
As you grow older, you will discover how wrong you are.
I think it was Winston Churchill that said; ‘A young man that isn’t liberal has no heart, an old man that isn’t conservative has no brain.’
Standard progression is for the young, who don’t have to pay for much, if anything, to be liberal. Once they start producing children, they turn conservative. Not everyone, of course, just 90% or so. It will happen to you, believe it or not. Experience is a very rough teacher. Experience has been know to kill her students. Your best bet is to learn from others mistakes, since life isn’t long enough to make all those mistakes on your own.
G Alston:
“You’re either a moron or a child if you think that government can be operated solely from a purist philosophical standpoint and not compromise”
I like the personal insult opening; Adds credibility to your argument. But I used to think like you, that the “moderate” republicans were just being practical, tit for tat, prioritizing, politiking, etc. etc. Then those ones in the senate voted for the stimulus bill that went so solidly against conservative principals. A bill which threatens to destroy our currency and choke our economy for years to come. With the house standing in solidarity, why did these so called Republicans go against everything our philosophy and platform says, and risk the whole country as a result? My only logical conclusion is that they don’t really believe in the philosophy or the platform, and are only part of the party due to political expediency and at that time they thought it was politically expedient to support the stimulus. I understand that in the real world of politics you can’t have principal all of the time. But neither should you have it none of the time. When it really counts, principal should be your guide. That’s why I opened with the stimulus example that you never responded to. In my mind it is undeniable proof that at least these senators have no real belief in the principals of conservatism.
“most of your bedfellows you simply regurgitate whatever simplistic mantra has been fed to you by the likes of Limbaugh” Do I have a problem in my limbic brain too? Oh, you caught me! I listen to Rush, Sean, Glenn Beck, OReilly, Read news and opinion from Fox, AP, WSJ, read the American Thinker, Small Dead Animals, Ace of Spades blogs….For certain, if I make a conservative argument someone else from the above list probably made a similar argument sometime in the past which I may or may not have heard. That of course makes me a mind numbed zombie (limbic BRAAAIIIINSSS!!!)
I’m tired of so called conservative politicians, who, when the rubber meets the road actually stand for nothing but their own career. I understand spectrum. And there is some wavelengths further left than myself that I am willing to accept. But there is a point it becomes untenable. Constantly throwing your party or philosophy under the bus to make yourself look better is one of those things that hurts far more than it helps. The national journal rankings also help keep track of who’s who without personally tracking every vote. Completely ignoring the social category, looking at the economic, and foreign policy categories, there is plenty liberal about the RINOs.
“Rid the party of nothing more than gay marriage and abortion and 65% of the country easily votes republican.”
BTW I’d recheck my opinion polls if I were you. They clearly don’t support your argument. Americans are split close to thirds on the issue of gay marriage in /full recognition/civil union only/no recognition/. That’s why prop 8 passed in California.
Only about 20%of Americans support “legal in all cases” abortion, meaning the vast majority support some restriction on abortion, and less than a third make abortion a go-no go issue for a candidate.
#98, Meghan McCain was once a declared liberal Democrat; she voted for John Kerry in 2004. But–with her father having the Republican nomination–Meghan McCain changed her affliation from Democrat to Republican for political purposes. She is really still a full-fledged flaming liberal Democrat, despite her cries she is a so-called “progressive Republican.”
The bottom line on Meghan is:
If she were not the daughter of John McCain, she couldn’t get published on My Space. She is neither a threat nor an inspiration. She’s a “celebrity” for crying out loud. After the Israelis bomb Iran and civil war breaks out across Western Civ, she’ll be as significant as Joey Buttawhatever.
#109 — BTW I’d recheck my opinion polls if I were you. They clearly don’t support your argument… That’s why prop 8 passed in California… Only about 20%of Americans support “legal in all cases” abortion…
I’ll take your prop 8 and raise you by the South Dakota attempt (in a very red state full of religious types) to implement an abortion ban. The measure was first defeated in the 2004 cycle and then stomped in the 2nd pass attempt in 2008 when they allowed for life of the mother and rape, thinking the 2004 attempt was overly restrictive. People in SD didn’t want the law changed, no matter what you think opinion polls show.
Voting a social position on a statewide ballot on a social measure and a national party position are different things, but the likes of Limbaugh et al aren’t about to discuss this. Their interpretation of the meaning of prop 8 is also backwards. Thus what you’re doing really is regurgitation without thought.
#108 — Standard progression is for the young, who don’t have to pay for much, if anything, to be liberal. Once they start producing children, they turn conservative.
I don’t think you’re quite grasping what’s being said here any more than #109 is. It’s really quite simple. Social issues in and of themselves are all over the place for a variety of reasons. The problem is that the left paints ALL republicans as anti-science every time social conservatives try to screw around with science teaching at the school board level, rail about embryonic stem calls, and so on.
The current and recent young people are NOT turning “conservative” in a way that can be recognised because in today’s climate “conservative” is equated with “dimwit.” Want proof? Pop quiz time! A school board in Resume Speed, Idaho is considering whether or not to include verbiage to science books stating that evolution is just a theory. Quickly now… was this proferred by a republican or a democrat? (HINT: if you answered “democrat”, you’re both stupid AND a liar.) Overall the young are increasingly STAYING liberal as they age and as they have children.
What Megan McCain, the poster you responded to, and the other so-called moderates here are saying is that the national level party needs to simply stop beating the social issue drum, and the negative connotations that used to automatically apply go away. What *should* happen is that there is no party affiliation associated with the idiocy of the Resume Speed school board members. The original poster is correct in saying that the “republican message” doesn’t resonate with youth and is increasingly becoming irrelevant, and for good reason: social conservatives are killing the republican party because of the anti-science associations alone.
We live in a technological society, one increasingly dependent on scientific progress. Being regarded as anti-science is NOT how you win votes. Give the younger voter a reason to vote republican. Social issues are a waste of clock cyles. Instead, promote science. Advocate nuclear energy. Advocate spaceborne solar power as a way to advance science, technology, and pre-eminence of the USA. And so on.
But here’s the rub — who’s going to believe that the republican party is serious about technology when so-called republicans are pissing and moaning about stem cells and advocating tossing the teaching of evolution?
Bueller? Anyone?
G Alston,
Is not global warming hysteria, which certainly does ring with your beloved youths, every bit as anti-science as the positions you haughtily despise? Something as simple as moths have produced holes in Mr. Darwin’s explanation of things. Or was his the last, and somehow divine word? If social issues are indeed a waste of clock cycles, perhaps it is because there are so many folks who believe they have nothing more to learn.
#113: Oh come one: for every “bad breath emitting, short-pants wearing “evolution is only a theory” high school teacher and dour “my mission in life is to prevent gays from marrying,” bible-banger, there are hundreds of Code Pink weirdos, human shields, Cindy Sheehans, Sean (“dictators are cool people to meet”) Penns, and John Walker Linds plus his parents (Sulyman Lindh’s dad and mom) and we know how they all vote. They are all weirdos to be sure, but the high school teacher and bible banger aren’t spending our tomorrow today.
If the economy hadn’t collapsed, Obama would have lost, even to the stumbling, “who am I , what time is it, where is my pocket watch?” McCain.
Lots of voters wanted to like the glib Obama but his speeches and his past did not match. Now we have a man that barely worked in the private sector, never held a real job for any length of time, urging a compliant congress to spend 13 trillion dollars. He outs the CIA memos and the Brits are now swearing they will never trust the CIA again (who will?). He’s paling with Chavez as if past differences are all the fault of the US, but its OK now that he’s elected. Throwing your own country under the bus is now The Obama Doctrine.
Sigh. You’re right in part of course. All The GOP had to do to win in 2006 is have GWB veto a spending bill or two, spank Ted Stevens, let loose of stem cells and sick his Justice Department on the porcine Dennis Hastert and the rest of the GOP plunders. And maybe call the SEC to check in on those “derivatives.” In other words, their job. Alas, GWB, who does not appear to have been at all corrupt himself, let the foxes play all day; we got taken to the cleaners. Now we have a younger, more agile Jimmy Carter and we’re going to get clobbered with taxes, inflation and debt. The GOP will rise again, but its goin to be because Obama and the Demo congress botches tings and that’s bad for us all too.
You know Jazz, I am not sure the real objections to McCain’s envrionmental message is the messenger, rather then the message. For many conservatives, McCain was the worst possible candidate and she is his daughter. When my fellow Republicans say that Obama didn’t win the election McCain lost it must have had their eyes closed for two years. Granted I disagree with almost everthing that comes out of Obama’s mouth, and I do think the media ignored all of Obama’s warts, but this guy captured the country in a way that I have never seen before. He gets compared to Reagan, but that doesnt work either. Reagan made us believe in OURSELVES. Obama made (other) people believe in HIM. It is not McCain’s fault that people bought his Kool-aid, nor is it his daughters fault.
That said, I think we pay too much attention to Ms McCain..good or bad until she is elected spokesman by the younger republicans. Till then she is just another blogger.
G Alston:
“…but the likes of Limbaugh et al aren’t about to discuss this. Their interpretation of the meaning of prop 8 is also backwards”
“Thus what you’re doing really is regurgitation without thought.”
Ohhhh you insult sooooo wellll. You must be credible.
GREAT ARGUMENT. e.g. “someone else doesn’t understand this legislation so you don’t” Let me think…. Prop 8 re-established the civil union/marriage that my 1/3 split argument was in direct support of….Clearly I have no idea what is going on.
I fail to see how your SD example in any way affects the only “1/3 would use abortion as a no-go topic” arguement. Given that most of those people probably lie at the extremes seems to support that this is not a big player. Probably why the MSM spent only a little time on the topic. What did they spend time on? (More on that thought later)
“social conservatives are killing the republican party because of the anti-science associations alone”
LGF fan? If not you probably would be. Little Green Footballs, check it out, careful they are ban happy.
Well a while ago it was gay marriage and abortion killing the party. Now we are “advocating tossing the teaching of evolution?”?
Exhausted on other topics we move on to religion eh? I don’t recall any republican presidential or vice presidential candidate ever suggesting that we NOT teach evolutionary theory. Consider also that about 90% of Americans believe in some sort of God and also believe God had something to do with both the creation and development of life on the planet. Also considering the lack of scientific consensus on evolutionary process, slow steady Darwinian, punctuated equilibrium caused by environmental stressors, sexual selection, natural selection etc. etc. it is certainly more developed than the various hypothesis on Abiogenesis, but certainly falls well short of the level of proof and understanding required for a law of science (think Law of Gravity) “theory” is the correct scientific term to deal with evolutionary science. Or do you oppose using correct terminology when teaching science in school? Again polls indicate (man I am starting to sound like a democrat) that the majority of Americans do not oppose teaching both theories. Polls on stem cells vary depending how you ask the question. Like do you think embryonic stem cell research is moral most will say yes. Ask if they think it is appropriate for government to fund stem cell research that results in the destruction of human embryos, then most will say no. It’s that old 1984 spin. Do you ever actually check polls to see if they support your premises about public opinion?
In reality I don’t think any of this had to do with our loss in November.
I think our loss was.
A. Bush was vastly unpopular because
1. War in Iraq
2. Economic Crash MSM managed to pin to him.
B. MSM and BHO managed to equate McCain to Bush
And I think a large number of concern trolls are using this loss as an opportunity, and are wandering into our forums attempting to create divisiveness within the party and movement(WE need to throw XXXX group of conservatives under the bus, and you’ll get XXXX votes) to split us preventing our normal majority from ever re-emerging. They usually say bad things about the tea parties and the attendees, defend moderate republicans like Meghan. The solution just always seems to be “stop being conservative”.
#117 — I don’t recall any republican presidential or vice presidential candidate ever suggesting that we NOT teach evolutionary theory.
The point eluding you is that of perception. Unless and until the republican national party drops social conservative party planks, republicans will be increasingly equated with an anti-scientific viewpoint. e.g. who were the idiots who used abortion as a litmus test for appointments of supreme court judges? Hint: perception says that it wasn’t the left.
#114 — Is not global warming hysteria, which certainly does ring with your beloved youths, every bit as anti-science as the positions you haughtily despise?
Global warming isn’t about science, it’s about the successful hijacking of science for leftist political means because the republicans — thanks to “conservative” morons — have been neutered. The only “conservative” stance out there is to denounce the whole thing as a conspiracy (just as you are doing now.) That’s not going to work. What am I saying? Let’s amend that: it didn’t work in the last election because that was the message being promulgated by the right. It didn’t work in 2008 and it’s not going to work in the future.
The correct and proper stance of the party ought to be that there is some global warming that is real (this part is true because it can be proven, so refuting this is idiocy) but that mitigation in the short term is expensive and pointless. This is at least on topic and arguable. The GOP ought to endorse nuclear energy and spaceborne solar as medium and long term positions and endorse US drilling as the short term solution. Doing this would have at least been sane.
The problem is that the GOP can’t do this. The left, thanks to useful (conservative) idiots, has successfully painted the GOP as out of the loop re science policy. Nobody takes the GOP seriously regarding science. Nor do I. The “conservatives” don’t even bother to offer a science policy. Nope. As close to science as I heard from a “conservative” in the election cycle was drill baby drill. Real forward thinking. (McCain of course advocated nuclear energy, but everyone in this idiot’s den has denounced McCain as a RINO leftist, so the “conservatives” can’t even claim a score on this one.)
The problem with advocating spaceborne power of course is that it grows government (lots of NASA money.) Oh dear, we can’t have that, now, can we? Good heavens, the GOP can’t articulate a halfway sane science and energy policy position because it’s being hamstrung by the “conservatives.”
GOP says “Oh well, screw it, we can’t deliver sane energy policy because of the conservative base, and the base knows best, so we’ll just hand the entire enchilada over to the socialists. And even if we had a plan, the social nutjobs are going to make us all look like imbeciles ranting about issues that just happen to correspond to biblical crapola (although we’ll deny it until we keel over) which makes us all appear like were anti-scientific by definition. No matter what, the conservatives have killed us, so we’ll hand it all to the socialists and claim that it doesn’t matter.”
Good plan.
Oh I get it….
Change our views, abandon principal and hope the media loves us enough not to make up lies about us.
You have attacked social conservatism.
Fiscal Conservatism
“The problem with advocating spaceborne power of course is that it grows government (lots of NASA money.) Oh dear, we can’t have that, now, can we? Good heavens, the GOP can’t articulate a halfway sane science and energy policy position because it’s being hamstrung by the “conservatives.””
You want to run solely on an economic/foreign policy conservative philosophy and expect that the media won’t call you a fascist? heh….hehhehheh….
By chopping the philosophy this way, the message no longer makes sense. At least if your trying to argue you are attempting to do whats best for humanity in the long run. No message is uninspiring, means no hope of getting better as a society, will drive droves to someone with a message of hope for a better future.
Every problem , in G Alston’s eyes, is to be found in the conservative reaction to leftist misdeeds. The Left is “hijacking science” for socialist purposes, but we are to blame for their success. We can’t promote ANY government spending because we object to FOOLISH government spending. This ham-handed analysis, replete with angry denunciation of all things conservative, leads me to conclude that it is not an empty suit we are dealing with here. Rather, a sheep suit. Overstuffed at that.
#120 — We can’t promote ANY government spending because we object to FOOLISH government spending.
Hand waving nonsense. Time and again conservative posters have made it abundantly clear that the conservative position is smaller government.
And time and again people just like you attempt to spin or redefine this to suit a position. Foolish spending? Please. So you’re the guy with the keys to the safe that holds the definition of what’s foolish. Who knew?
The Left is “hijacking science” for socialist purposes, but we are to blame for their success.
You just don’t get it, do you? When conservatives use biblical arguments and screech about stem cells and stop scientific progress by messing with the funding thereof, it’s difficult (nigh impossible) to claim a pro-science stance. The left therefore uses this to promote a consistent pro-science message which resonates with most of the young.
The reality is that a vast number of science and engineering types, in fact probably the majority, are not leftists. I’m certainly not. Yet the PERCEPTION is that the right wing is against science. Yeah, I know, I’m wrong. Should be simple to prove this: go to any public university and read the tea leaves.
There’s a vast difference between observing the obvious (the left consistently promotes a pro-science message) and laying blame. Your problem is that you don’t like the observation therefore you will be more than happy to either pretend it’s not real or shoot the observer. This varies between conservatives. Don’t worry about it; you’re quite normal.
Tell me, G. When you experience a thought, is there an itching sensation, or just low rumblings in the nether regions, prompting an attempted filtering upward, as opposed to an immediate and rather heated exit via the most available exit?
P.S. Was Margaret Sanger pro-science? Were there moral implications to her message? Is there a difference in types of stem cell research? Are the “sciences” of Drs. Mengele and Schweitzer on a par? I get it, alright. I just don’t like it.
I think there’s some validity to Ms. McCain’s points, but I also think her privileged upbringing, lack of any real-world curriculum vitae, and her reference to tired conservative stereotypes did little to win her fans among the conservative base.
Plus, I know a lot of us are still miffed at her daddy…
We just lost an election…..Driven primarily by the vast unpopularity of the incumbent.
An incumbent who’s unpopularity was not driven stem cells, or abortion, rather by
foreign policy and
economic policy.
and lack of fiscal conservatism.
And you want to whittle the party down to exactly that dynamic again? I see that as a recipe for a permanent minority.
“Yet the PERCEPTION is that the right wing is…..”
In effect you argue to let the MSM, whom will always hate us, drive our direction, by allowing the false perceptions they engender to determine our overall direction as a response, so that we MIGHT be more liked by the media. Well I only see two outcomes to media appeasement, either the media drives us off a cliff or eventually just drives us over to the Democrats. How about we find a real conservative message that shows a direction and hope for the future. So we stop being seen as ‘feeding the rich more wealth’ rather than a framework of freedom and infinite opportunity that holds the prospect for personal and societal growth for a better future. That is our real image problem. Not our moral stance on certain types of scientific research.
32. Fred Beloit: Jazz Shaw speaks for…whom? 24-year-olds I guess.
That’s right, dismiss them. After all, what can they do but vote Democrat in droves?
It’s easy to dismiss those of us who have doubts about the direction Ms McCain would take the GOP as “doctrinaire.” But, hey, in a day when principles don’t count and demographic analysis is everything, someone has to be doctrinaire!
The fact is that for every “moderate” who is attracted to the party because we soften our positions on hot button issues we will lose principled conservatives who not only vote but also give money and time.
Sorry, Meghan, I’m not buying it. The GOP needs to become a party that teaches principles of good governance to new generations of people. A party that just floats along trying to appeal to different demographic groups is not worth supporting.
Is a Female crack snacker and a Male pole smoker normal ‘NO’ Stop telling me it is please I’m sick of this stuff.